Earlier today, I outlined the four all-over-the-place positions Romney has taken on health care reform:
1. He said the Massachussets plan, which he signed into law, could be a model for the nation.
2. It's a good plan for MA, but it's not good for the nation.
3. "I will repeal ObamaCare in its entirety."
4. This morning on "Meet the Press," he said: "Well, I'm not getting rid of all health care reform. . . . Of course
there are a number of things that I like in health care reform that I'm
going to put in place. One is to make sure that those with
pre-existing conditions can get coverage."
Now, a fifth position emerges, as his aides walked back what he said this morning, which was:
Insisting that Gov. Romney had not changed his position, the aide said that he "was not proposing a federal mandate to require insurance companies to offer those particular features." Rather, Gov. Romney believes that "In a competitive environment, the marketplace will make available plans that include coverage for what there is demand for."
So, answer me this one question, Governor. Why has the market not already done that? It's had plenty of time and plenty of people who lack insurance because of pre-existing conditions.
The answer is in the word "affordable." Romney has not addressed that point. Sure, if you pay enough, some insurance company will provide it. That's the way the market works.
Did you notice, Governor, that the real name of ObamaCare if the Affordable Health Care Act?
And did you notice, Governor, that the only way to make it affordable is to broaden the base of those insured? And you must admit that the insurance industry is not going to add the most costly patients to its rolls and still be competitive enough to want to do that, without some incentive or some government requirement -- like requiring healthy young people to carry insurance. The market just does not work all by itself, when the "product" is costly but necessary as a human service.
Ralph
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OH HO!! Romney has really painted himself into a corner on this one. His claim that he would have a plan to take care of people with pre-existing conditions was a lot of hot air. He does not have a plan for it.
ReplyDeleteThe carefully worded explanation aired by his campaign on National Review is this:
“Governor Romney will ensure that discrimination against individuals with pre-existing conditions who maintain continuous coverage is prohibited.”
Get it? "who maintain continuous coverage" -- that means, if you already have coverage, you can't get kicked off if you get sick. It does not address the problem of people who already have a condition that prevents their being insured.
OK. Let's see how you play this one in the debate when you get grilled on it and Obama has a chance to respond.